Electric hand lantern



Aug. 26, 1958 J. A. M DERMOTT ELECTRIC HAND LANTERN Filed Aug. 3, 1955 INVENTOR. JUL/AN A. [WQDE/FMOW. BY

United States Patent ELECTRIC HAND LANTERN Julian A. McDermott, Corona, N. Y. Application August 3, 1955, Serial No. 526,257

3 Claims. (Cl. 24010.63)

This invention relates broadly to electric hand lanterns, and more particularly to a hand lantern comprising a battery source of power and a lamp head, the lamp head being adapted to be carried angularly with respect to the battery source of power.

In connection with certain work, such as the work of a linesman searching for defective telephone cable, or in connection with the work of a night watchman, it is frequently necessary that a person engaged in such work carry in his hand a lantern, the lamp head of which may be pivoted in such manner that light rays emanating therefrom be cast angularly upward or angularly downward, without the necessity of the carrier oft-he lantern to twist his hand to achieve such result.

With this in view, it is the principal object of the present invention, to provide a hand lantern, wherein the vertical line between the center of gravity of the battery, the pivot and the point of application of the supporting force is constantly maintained, so that the lamp head may be angularly positioned and conveniently carried in such position.

And a still further purpose of the present invention resides in the provision of a lantern of this character, comprising broadly a battery source of power and a lamp head, wherein the lamp head may be secured to the battery source of power by tightening a single nut.

And a still further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a lantern of this character, wherein the lamp head may be angul-arly positioned with respect to the battery source of power and maintained in any desired angular position by tightening a single nut.

And yet another advantage of the present invention lies in the provision of a lantern of this character, wherein the angularly adjusted position of the lamp head may be altered by loosening a single nut.

And a still further purpose of the present invention resides in the provision of means for suspending the lantern at the area where repair work is to be done, to illuminate that area.

These and other meritorious aims and advantages, which will become more fully apparent as the description hereof proceeds, are attained by the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter described and illustrated. in the accompanying drawing, forming a material component of this disclosure, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an electric hand lantern constructed in accordance with the present invention, the arrow indicating the directions in which the lamp head may be pivoted, the solid lines showing the handle in normal position and the broken lines showing the handle in one of its angular positions.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the lantern illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 illustrates supporting means for the lantern when it is desired to support the lantern at the scene Where repair work is to be done.

2,849,596 Patented Aug. 26, 1958 curved inwardly at one of its ends, as at 15, each curved end 15 being provided with a slot 16 into which flange 14 of the battery may be entered.

Each of said mounting posts 13 is provided with an opening near the inwardly turned end of said posts for the passage therethrough of a bolt 17, said bolt 17 extending outwardly beyond mounting posts 13. The ends of bolt 17 may be threaded to receive a pair of wing nuts 22 for a purpose which will hereinafter become more fully apparent.

Lamp head 12 may be positioned between the mounting posts 13 near their upper ends. For mounting purposes, the upper end of each of said mounting posts is provided with an opening for the passage therethrough of a pair of wing nuts 20, a pair of washers 19 being positioned between each of said nuts 20 and the outer face of each of said mounting posts 13. A washer 18 may be positioned between one of said mounting posts 13 and the housing of the lamp head, washer 18 being internally threaded to receive the externally threaded end of nut 20 'therein, and positioned between the opposite side of the lamp housing and the inner face of the other of said support or mounting posts 13 is a coiled spring 21 for a purpose which will presently become more fully'apparent.

Positioned upon the upper surface of the cylindrical battery is a handle bracket 25 preferably comprising a substantially horizontal center section and a pair of upwardly extending angular arms, the center section preferably being provided with openings therein through which rivets 32 or other fastening means may pass, Whereby the said handle bracket 25 may be secured to the upper surface of the cylindrical housing of the lamp head 12.

Between the upper ends of the angular arms of handle bracket 25 there may be provided a handle 26, each end of handle 26 being secured to the corresponding end of the angular arms of the handle bracket 25 by screws 30 or otherwise. Each end of the cylindrical lamp head housing may be provided with a lens flange 29 to receive and retain therein a lens 28. There may also be provided a conventional switch 31 at a suitable and convenient location upon the lamp head housing, such as for instance, the location illustrated in the drawings.

It may be desired to suspend the lantern from a support, such as, for instance, a telephone cable. For that purpose, suspending means may be provided which may comprise a wire 41 bent centrally to form a loop 48. Each end of wire or cable 41 may be provided with a loop, 42 and 44 respectively, in which may be entered the upper ends of a pair of hooks 43 and 45 respectively, for which purpose the upper end of each of the said books is provided with an opening 46. The hook part of the hooks is referred to by the numeral 47, and there are also illustrated the conventional electric wire 49 and conventional battery post 50.

The device is assembled and used in the following manner:

When it is desired to mount a lamp head of the present invention upon a battery, slots 26 at the lower end of mounting posts 13 are caused to engage the flange 14 of the battery 11. Tightening of either of the nuts 22 will firmly retain the lamp head upon the battery. Con- 3 versely, loosening of either of the nuts 22, without removing the loosened nut from bolt 17, will permit disengagement of the lamp head from the battery.

When angular positionment of the lamp head is required, either of the nuts is loosened, the lamp head pivoted, and the nut tightened again. The lantern may then be carried with the lamp head in its adjusted'position, until, by loosening either of the nuts 20, the angular position of the lamp head may be altered.

When, for example, a defective telephone cable has been found, and repair work upon it is contemplated, it may be desirable to suspend the lantern near the place where such work is to be done. In that event, loop 48 of wire 41 is positioned upon telephone cable 40 in an obvious manner, and the hooks 47 are caused respectively to engage nut 18 and spring 21, whereby the lantern 1s suspended.

A still simpler suspending means is illustrated in Figure 3a, which comprises a cable 41a of suflicient strength to support the weight of the lantern, the cable being bent centrally to form a loop. The ends of the cable are bent upwardly to form a pair of hooks for engagement with nut 18 and spring21 respectively.

When, while carrying the lantern, the user desires to cause light rays to be cast either upwardly or downwardly, he can readily and instantly adjust the lamp head angularly by merely moving his hand forward or backward upon the handle in an obvious manner.

Thus there has been shown and described an electric hand lantern and suspending means therefor in the best known forms of their embodiments. It is to be understood that this disclosure is to be regarded as illustrative and descriptive only of the best known forms of the invention and not as limitative or restrictive to the exact details shown, applicant reserving the right to make such changes in the construction thereof as may come within the scope of the claims without thereby departing either from the spirit or the scope of the present invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. The combination with a battery container having a marginal flange thereon and an open-ended cylindrical lamp container including a pair of lamps at opposite ends in said lamp container; of means pivotally suspending the lamp container in spaced relationship above the battery container, said means comprising a pair of mounting posts, each of said mounting posts terminating at one of its ends in a jaw, said jaws adapted to releasingly engage opposite sides of the marginal flange of the battery container, means rigidly and releasingly retaining the battery container between said mounting posts, the lamp container pivotally mounted between said mounting posts near their other ends, whereby either of the open ends of the lamp container may be tilted upwardly, an arched handle mounted transversely above the lamp container, and means extending transversely through said mounting posts above the battery container whereby releasingly to effect the clamping of the battery container in said jaws of said mounting posts.

2. The combination with a battery container having a marginal flange thereon and a hollow cylindrical openended lamp container having lamps in opposite ends thereof; of means pivotally suspending the lamp container above the battery container and means rigidly and releasingly retaining the battery container with respect to the lamp container, said first named means comprising a pair of mounting posts, the lamp container pivotally mounted between said mounting posts near opposite ends thereof, the other ends of said mounting posts turned inwardly toward each other, each of said inwardly turned ends forming a jaw wherein to retain the marginal flange of the battery container at opposite sides thereof, a threaded bolt passing through said mounting posts above the battery container whereby to releasingly clamp the battery container in said jaws, and an arched handle upon and above the lamp container, said handle so positioned that either end of the lamp container may selectively be tilted upwardly.

3. An electric hand lantern comprising the combination with a battery container having a marginal flange thereon and a lamp container containing a lamp therein; of means pivotally retaining the lamp container above and spaced from the battery container, said means comprising a pair of mounting posts, the lamp container pivotally mounted between said mounting posts near opposite ends thereof, a pair of integrally formed inwardly directed jaws on said mounting posts, one of said jaws at each of said other ends of said mounting posts wherein to receive the flange on the battery container at opposite sides thereof, removable means passing through said mounting posts whereby rigidly and releasingly to retain the battery container in said jaws, and an arched handle mounted above and spaced from the lamp container whereby the lamp may be tilted upwardly or downwardly selectively.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,142,548 Berg June 8, 1915 1,194,930 Austen Aug. 15, 1916 1,282,219 Grether Oct. 22, 1918 2,069,355 Clarke Feb. 2, 1937 2,320,917 Ely June 1, 1943 2,510,321 Sauer June 6, 1950 2,673,925 Braun Mar. 30, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,070,064 France July 16, 1954 

